Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Sri Lanka instead of Cuba, you would:
Health
be 51.2% less likely to be obese
In Cuba, 23.0% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sri Lanka, that number is 11.2% of people as of 2024.
see 80.3% less spent on your healthcare
Cuba spends $2,575 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sri Lanka spends $507 as of 2023.
have 88.1% fewer doctors per person
Cuba has 95.4 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2021. Sri Lanka has 11.4 as of 2023.
have 19.3% less access to essential health services
Cuba scores 83 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sri Lanka scores 67 as of 2021.
Economy
be 2.3 times more likely to be unemployed
In Cuba, 1.8% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sri Lanka, that number is 4.0% as of 2025.
Life
be 48.6% less likely to die during childbirth
In Cuba, approximately 35.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Sri Lanka, 18.0 women do as of 2023.
be 23.5% less likely to die during infancy
In Cuba, approximately 6.8 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Sri Lanka, on the other hand, 5.2 children do as of 2024.
have 17.2% more children
In Cuba, there are approximately 8.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sri Lanka, there are 10.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Basic Needs
be 22.5% less likely to have internet access
In Cuba, approximately 70.5% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Sri Lanka, about 54.6% do as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 78.3% less on education
Cuba spends 8.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Sri Lanka spends 1.8% of total GDP on education as of 2023.
spend 60.8% less on healthcare
Cuba spends 9.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Sri Lanka, that number is 3.7% of GDP as of 2023.
Geography
see 64.1% less coastline
Cuba has a total of 3,735 km of coastline. In Sri Lanka, that number is 1,340 km.
Safety
be 25.8% less likely to be murdered
Cuba has a homicide rate of 4.5 per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sri Lanka, that number is 3.3 per 100,000 as of 2019.
be 2.1 times more likely to die in a road accident
In Cuba, road accidents kill 5.4 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sri Lanka, they kill 11.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 2.8 times more home broadband
Cuba has 3.1 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Sri Lanka has 8.5 as of 2024.
live with 3.8 times more strain on fresh water
Cuba withdraws 24% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Sri Lanka withdraws 91% as of 2022.
use 55.9% less electricity
Cuba uses 1,462 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2023. Sri Lanka uses 644 kWh as of 2023.
Environment
emit 44.5% less CO2
Cuba emits 1.9 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Sri Lanka emits 1.1 tonnes as of 2024.
be 19.4% more likely to die from air pollution
In Cuba, air pollution causes 31.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sri Lanka, it causes 37.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2019–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Cuba vs. Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: At a glance
How big is Sri Lanka compared to Cuba? See an in-depth size comparison.